Bad Friday

Dates: April 10, 2009
Location: U(ltra)EPB&G Spot
Air temp: 50s
Water temp: ?
Hatches: midges
Fish landed: 1 little guy


Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Xan


Another late start, another shitty day. Having the day off, I slept in, reluctantly getting out of bed to fish the Curd River. I'm not sure why I went, I knew it would be crap, but maybe I could at least beat the crowds.

Wrong.

Not only has the Curd been low and clear for most of the early season, it's been packed, even on weekdays. I first arrived at QD's favorite run, saw a car and kept going. Getting to the Lawn, I found two cars and two more after I had parked. I then went to the EPB&G spot, more cars. Driving off towards Famous Original Rays, I noticed that a spot in town I usually see cars parked at was empty. I had never fished this area, but fuck it, there weren't any other cars.

Peering down from the bridge, I saw not a single fish upstream. Walking to the other side of the road, I looked downstream and saw roughly 500 trout, and some of the biggest suckers I've ever seen, all piled up in a 50 foot run. We stared at each other for a while, a few trout rising occasionally for midges. I figured that wouldn't be a bad place to start fishing.

I hiked down from the bridge, waded underneath it, and started casting a dry toward the mass of fish. Nothing. Cast after cast, nothing. Giving up, I walked upstream to the first signs of life. A nice little run with a lot of risers.

Once again, I began the futile process of casting my dry. Much like the hero in a war movie, who is running for his life through a field of artillary fire, my fly floated past watery explosions all around it. Much to my dismay, it made it safely through every time but one, when a 2 inch fish was stupid enough to latch onto it. I must have tried 4 or 5 different dries, trying to match the hatch, but the fish didn't care. They had real midges to eat.

I hiked upstream a long, long ways, trying out nymphs at this point. I found very little fishable water, but I did find more fishermen. After a while, I got tired of exploring and headed back. I gave the artillary run and the trout refugee camp each another whirl, but with the same results. The Curd has curdled.